From cables to speakers to stands that prop up your phone, there are more cool accessories out there than you can shake a stick at—and they all seem grossly overpriced. Don't feel like cashing in an arm and a leg to power up your phone? Here are 10 cellphone accessories that are cheap and easy to make yourself.

10. Car Docks

Most smartphones have pretty superb navigation options these days, but you don't want to just stick your phone in your cup holder and try to follow it from there. Car docks can often be pretty pricey, too, but it's pretty easy to throw one together with just a few office supplies. Our favorite is definitely the binder clip car dock, though if you have a car mount from a previous navigation unity lying around, you can mod that to fit whatever phone you have now, too.

Inexpensive phone mounts are almost always disappointing with low-quality parts and a poor grip on…
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9. Styluses

Who would have thought the Samsung Galaxy Note would be so popular 10 years after Palm Pilots and their styluses bit the dust? If you find it handy for jotting notes, drawing pictures on your iPad, or doing other things, you don't need to go out and buy a stylus for your phone. We've shown you tons of ways to make one, from candy bar wrappers to mechanical lead holders to cheap pens, sponges, and dry erase markers. Some are a bit easier than others, so be sure to check them all out and find out which project fits your needs.

If you're picky about how your phone's case looks and feels, you can build your own…
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7. Touch Screen Gloves

Those of you in the cold white north know how annoying it is that you can't use your phone when you have gloves on—and how annoying it is to take your gloves off when it's 15 below zero outside. If you don't want to go buy a new pair of touch screen-friendly gloves, you can make your own at home with some conductive thread. Alternatively, this 6 Stitch Kit takes all the planning out of your project and will make any gloves touch screen friendly with minimal work.

There are a number of gloves out there that are already designed to work with capacitive…
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6. Mini Charging Cables

We lovethese mini cables from Griffin, but it just feels weird paying so much money for a smaller version of something we already have. Instead of buying them, you can just shorten your existing USB cables with a wire stripper and a bit of soldering. You'll save tons of space in your backpack, not to mention never deal with tangled cables again.

Need a portable boombox for your smartphone or music player? Industrial design student and…
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1. Stands and Docks

Ever since the invention of smartphones, people have been making DIY docks and stands out of anything they could find. We've featured more than we could ever list, but if you're still in the market for a dock to hold up your phone, check out these posts we've done on the subject: